Many consumer electronic products are powered from the AC circuits either directly or via a power converter such as a so called “power brick”, “wall wart”, etc. As a result, AC outlets can be rapidly consumed, even though total current consumption can remain at safe levels. Additional outlets and or power strips are the usual solution.
When two or more associated devices (i.e., where one serves as an accessory to another), it is often the case that when one device is not on, the other need not be powered. By way of example, an accessory device may remain unnecessarily powered on when the main device is turned off. Using conventional power strips, power is unnecessarily wasted.